suppose that you gave me a christmas gift. and i stuck it over in the corner and the next year you go, hey, rick, how did you like my gift? and i go, oh, i just got too busy to open it, you'd be offended. and yet many people have celebrated christmas after christmas after christmas and never opened god's gift. the gift of christmas is grace. and that is, no matter who i am, what i've done, where i've gone, there is forgiveness available. i can have my past forgiven, a purpose of living and a home in heaven. and it is a free gift. i receive it by grace. there's a verse in the bible that says, to those who believe and receive, to him he gave the right to become children of god. that's what i think it's all about, believing and receiving. >> pastor rick, happy holidays. >> thank you very much. a pleasure. merry christmas. >> that's all for us. >> that's all for us. merry christmas. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

r >> tp >> the stories abor about inabout iab, r >> tp >> the stories abor about inabout ia sper speed p speed onsp watch thwatch thir wwa vidvideo we watch thwatch thir wwa vidvideo w just got in. did you see that? ra russian planp a russ. i'm don lemon. let's get you up to speed on the day's headlines. i want you to watch this amazing new video that we just got in. do you see that? that is dashcam video as a russian plane exploded and flaming parts landed on a highway near moscow. four of the eight crew members on board were killed. no one on the highway, though, was hurt. there were no other passengers on the plane, similar in size to a 757. the plane broke into three pieces as it overshot the runway.

also tonight, new video of a bronx woman who faces a second-degree murder charge in what police call the hate crime death of a man shoved onto subway tracks. 31-year-old erika menendez confessed to the crime saying she hates hindus and muslims. 46-year-old sunando sen was pushed on to the tracks as an 11-car train pulled into the station. a serenade from the oak ridge boys. the group sang "amazing grace" over a speaker phone to former president george h.w. bush. he's still in a houston hospital but has been moved from intensive care back to a regular room. he's been fighting a fever and has been in the hospital since november 23rd. there's nothing washington loves like a deadline. and it's got a big one three days from now. that's when we go over the fiscal cliff. and possibly back into a recession. cnn's lisa desjardins has the latest on negotiations from capitol hill.

>> reporter: don, the stakes are very high. i think leaders are paying close attention to that. that may be why we're hearing a change of mood in the capitol right now. even the weather was different. beautiful snowfall hit the weather this morning. that's what the weather was like when mitch mcconnell came to work to try to reach a deal. if he can't forge a deal with democrats, here's what's at stake. let's look first of all at what's involved in talks. at the top of that list, tax rates. if we go over the fiscal cliff, tax rates will go up 9% to 33% for most all americans. that would also mean havoc for payroll companies and the irs that would have to struggle with how to handle withholding starting on january 1st. also unemployment benefits, those actually ran out today. that's something that republicans and democrats, we understand, are talking about right now. what else is at stake in the fiscal cliff? let's look at some other issues, things that we're not sure will be in a deal that comes out this week. at the top of that list, government spending cuts. that's about 8% to 10% in cuts to most every federal agency. also a pay cut for medicare

doctors of 27% that would hit after january 1st. finally, don, there are a slew of other tax hikes. the alternative minimum tax is one that people talk about. the estate tax. these are all things that would affect average americans and which would hit on january 1st. so the fiscal cliff, it might be even bigger than people realize. don? >> lisa, thank you very much. we've got a lot more planned for you this saturday night. here's what else is ahead. as our lawmakers wrestle with u.s. gun violence, chicago hits an awful milestone. 500 murders this year and counting. what's to blame? a former gang member and chicago's police superintendent join me live. plus, president obama could

tap this republican to lead the defense department. but not everyone wants to see a secretary hagel. why some of the loudest voices with coming from his own party. and 2012 is almost history. but what's the takeaway? comedian dean obeidallah schools us with his top ten lessons of 2012. and also good news to tell you about a story we have been reporting on tonight. two missing georgia boys have been found safe in austin, texas. their father, the man who allegedly kidnapped them has been taken into custody. someone at a hotel recognized the boy from the amber alert and contacted police. much more in 30 minutes on their story. also spoke with their mom before she headed off to go pick up her two sons. hear what she told me by phone. gangs and guns, a deadly mix in chicago that's getting more dire by the day. the city marked a grim milestone this week, 500 murders so far this year. it was a shooting on the city's west side thursday that pushed the number to 500. police say a 40-year-old man was shot in the head outside a convenience store. another troubling number, 270, that's the number of children who have been killed by guns in chicago in the last five years.

back to this year's 500 homicides. that's up 50% from last year. it is the highest the murder rate has been in the city since 2008. it was 512 then. what's going on here? some say it's a police problem, that chicago police are simply outnumbered and outgunned. unable to handle the influx of kids who want to kill kids to make some cash or to climb the social ladder in chicago gang life. or is it a gun problem? the city has some of the toughest laws on the books. but the chicago police department says 87% of the homicides this year are a result of gun violence. so let's talk. joining me tonight for this conversation, tio hardiman. and harold pollack joins us as well. welcome, gentlemen. first to you mr. pollack.

what is the problem? is it guns, gang, both? what is it? >> i think that everything you mentioned is a problem. but i think that the immediate problem is getting a better handle on illegal guns. many of the murders that take place involve 18-year-old kids dealing with each other, having normal 18-year-old conflicts. and then you introduce a gun to that. and someone ends up dead. i think that helping kids deal with those conflicts more productively but also doing everything we can to deal with those illegal guns is critical to bringing the homicide rate down. >> this is exactly what cease-fire deals with, especially the gang issue. and you know from experience, you know this well. before i talk to you, do you remember back in 2009 in the summer, this was right after 2008 when it was high. you and i went and walked around all these really terrible neighborhoods. at one point, someone pulled a gun on us. you remember that? >> yeah, i remember it pretty clearly, don. somebody pulled a gun out and told us to leave the

neighborhood. and we had to get the guy to put his gun down. >> we interviewed a self-professed gang member in silhouette. here's how he talked about the problem. what's the violence for? what's the ole reason for shooting? why do so many people get shot? >> traffic flows my way. all about the mighty dollar. >> so if you kill somebody, you get rid of them, that's more money for you? i don't mean you specifically -- >> not me specifically. but some people. >> explain it to me. what do you mean by that? >> [ bleep ] they just cut the middle man out. some people in the way. some people got to die for the next man to get them to get on top.

>> if these guys are killing each other, we know that innocent people are getting away with a lot of this. even people on social media are saying, if these people are killing themselves, why should we care about it? >> we should really care because what's going on in chicago is three things are happening. you have more internal fighting this year compared to a few years in the past. what i mean by internal fighting, with the same street organizations. the internal fighting has intensified. number two, you have this social media frenzy taking place with facebook, twitter and youtube where you have conflict. but outside of that, both of those guys represent different groups throughout chicagoland. so what's happening on the silver screen and as far as what's happening on the streets, there's a direct relationship there because guys are getting killed. about two or three days ago, a guy was shot wearing a little joe joe hoodie. he was an aspiring rapper as

well. and last but not least, these young guys are growing up in a culture of violence. they see violence when they're growing up and feel that it's acceptable behavior. and we have to do more to change the norms and the mindsets because chicago is a war zone in some of these communities. >> i didn't know about the lil jojo thing. that's something you know. before we talk solutions, i want to play something to you that a very prominent columnist from chicago -- do we have time, or after the break? producers? let's listen to him. i interviewed him yesterday. >> there had been people who are papering over and smooching up and making things look nice when they weren't nice. the city is broke. we're 1,000 police officers down at least, right? and now the city is creating this news flap, a public relations issue saying now we're going to take one off the 500 and make it 499.

you're right, don, the kids are killing each other to climb up to make a few bucks. what's the answer? i don't know. do you have an answer? >> no. >> i don't. we make the sandy hook which was a tragedy a big deal. why don't the politicians come to the funerals of the dead african-american and latino kids who get killed by the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, the media's ghetto-ized these kids, these homicide victims, pushed them to the side. i'm not diminishing the others but i'm saying, president obama, show up at a funeral here in chicago once in a while, too. >> are these people being ghetto-ized? is it time for washington to act, even the president? we'll answer that next. lowest . and if it finds one, you get refunded the difference. just use your citi card and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all you need is a magic carriage.

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we make the sandy hook which was a tragedy a big deal. why don't the politicians come to the funerals of the dead african-american and latino kids who get killed by the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds? the media's ghetto-ized these children, these homicide victims, pushed them to the side. i'm not diminishing the others. i'm just saying, president obama, show up at a funeral here in chicago once in a while, too. >> chicago columnist john kass there. we're talking about the milestone reached in the chicago that nobody is proud of, 500 murders in one year, this year. we're talking about blame. we're talking about guns. we're talking about kids killing kids in the projects. with me, tio hardiman director of cease fire illinois, and harold pollack. you heard the man. what do you think? >> i certainly think that we need to have a sense of urgency. i think the part of mr. kass' comment that i agreed with was this is a really serious problem.

report problem on a fiscal cliff which is really an artificial crisis created by dysfunction in washington. and i'm thinking, i wish we had the same urgency in washington about bringing resources to places like chicago to help deal with these problems we see in some other areas that are no more important. i do think listening to your report, it's important to know that there's lots of things we can do. with two local nonprofit partners, we did a randomized trial in 16 schools in chicago of an intervention that helped kids basically with their social and emotional skills. and we found a really strong reduction in violent arrests among the kids that participated in that intervention. there's a lot of good ideas for dealing with guns. i think you can listen to these reports and get a sense, hey, it's just so bad, there's nothing we can do. and that's not true at all. there's a lot of good ideas out there that we need to be methodically doing on the street every day. >> and tio, hard facts here, chicago's murder rate is higher than new york's, higher than los

angeles. your mayor, rahm emanuel, said this week he wants assault weapons banned. is that really the answer? are assault weapons a problem in chicago? >> people are being shot by guys carrying assault weapons for sure. but we need to continue to work on changing behaviors. the police cannot do it themselves. we need communities to step up. african-american fathers and mothers, it's incumbent upon the community to collaborate to help get the homicide rate back down because we can't point fingers because the culture of violence has been around for a long time. if you've got guys growing up in these households where everybody's saying it's acceptable behavior, you're going to have problems time and time again. on behalf of cease-fire right high risk

now, we're working with 1,173 young men helping them get on the right track and change behaviors and helping them become productive members of society. so it takes all hands on deck from the president all across the united states. but we need to really focus here in chicago and work with these young men. a lot of these guys, if they get the right information, they may go in another direction. it's our job to help them make the right choices. >> i want to ask you -- i asked this last time to all the officials, all the people we had on, and probably you, tio, and harold as well. what is -- this will go to harold. what is different about chicago than any other city? what is so different that makes the murder rate so high in chicago? >> well, we're not worse than many cities. in fact, our homicide rate is lower than it was ten years ago. we do have a more serious gun problem than many other cities. per capita, the chicago police capture about six times as many guns as they do in new york city.

so we have some specific problems with guns. and i think our gang problem as well. i don't want to make chicago seem like more of an outlier than it actually it is. a lot of the things we're talking about tonight, if we had 400 or 300 murders in chicago, we should be having exactly the same conversation which is how to really execute better, how can we get more cops on the street, how can we create the kind of partnerships that tio is mentioning. if you look at milwaukee, detroit, many cities of the united states, baltimore, have actually higher homicide rates than chicago. but ours is certainly high enough. and i think the gun issue is certainly one area where we have to do so much better. >> harold, tio, i have to get to a break. you know we'll have you back. thank you guys for coming on. i want to tell the audience, we're sticking with this important story. next, we're looking for answers from chicago's top cop live.

have a seat. important conversation. we're focusing on chicago tonight. from street crime and gun violence perspective, the city of chicago had a miserable year. 500 people murdered in chicago. overwhelmingly, those people killed were gang members. they were young, they were black and they were killed with a gun. want to talk with the top law enforcement official in the city of chicago right now, police superintendent garry mccarthy. welcome, superintendent. thank you for coming on on a saturday night to talk about this. >> thanks, don. my pleasure. it's really important that we do. >> you're relatively new to chicago, since last year. you have worked in other cities. you brought down murder rates in other cities. what is it about chicago that makes this awful figure possible, 500 murders in one year?

>> well, there's a number of things. first of all, as is rightly identified, it's about the gang conflicts. and the second thing that really is overwhelming is the number of firearms in this city. as mr. pollack just said, last time i checked, that number was nine guns for every one that new york city took off the street. but the fact that -- we took nine for every one that new york city took off the street. and the fact is while people talk about strict gun laws in the state of illinois, i don't believe that to be the case. i think new york has a three-year mandatory minimum for possession of a firearm. look at an example like plaxico burress, he got two years in jail for shooting himself. those are not the type of sentences we see here in the state of illinois, certainly not in the city of chicago. we have to do better with that. >> when you hear people say, no, we don't need to examine our gun laws, it's our second amendment right.

people should be able to have as many guns as they want, automatic rifles, assault rifles, what do you say to that? >> i don't believe that that's the case. the second amendment says we have the right to bear arms. but a practical person, arms could be hand grenades, it could be mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, which i believe the lapd just seized two rocket launchers during a gun buyback program. we don't have to sell people on the fact that you shouldn't have cannons and artillery. i think the question is, what's practical? and in this case, i don't think we need assault weapons with high capacity magazines that are military-style weapons that are used in combat because they end up on the streets killing people. the fact is, there's some reasonable things that we could do. i believe there's only seven states in the country that require the reporting of the loss, theft or transfer of a firearm, which is crazy.

that's what fuels the illegal gun market in our urban centers across this country. and the city of chicago is experiencing gun violence, every other urban center in this country is. if i could just say one thing, i think it's important to realize that early in the year, we had a 66% increase in murders in our first quarter. we put some things in place. and i think we've got solutions that are working at this point because the trend line has been going completely in the other direction and it's really not getting out there. it's not resonating that here we are in the fourth quarter, we've got two days left in the year, and in the fourth quarter, we're down 18% in murders, which is about an 85% swing. so there's things that we can do about it. there's things we are doing about it. but we need infrastructure, like reasonable gun laws that are going to back us up. >> are you outgunned? the people on the street have bigger and more powerful weapons than you have?

>> no, i don't think so. actually, the administration previous to us did something that i think was unfortunately necessary. and we armed our officers, at least a lot of them, with m-4 carbines. we have the same type of weaponry they have. we don't get to use them frequently. our officers are very well-trained. we engage in gun battles with bad guys on a very regular basis. knock on wood, we've won the vast majority of them. we have well-trained, great, hard-working people. >> there are so many things i want to get to because i think it's important here. you blame gangs. but not the traditional chicago gangs, a new type of gang. what's the new gang? what are you talking about? >> well, the fracturing of the bigger gangs, for instance, there's these big gangs that existed going back decades in this city.

the gang violence has generally been wrapped around that, as you guys pointed out. we're at about half of what we were 20 years ago in this city, as far as the murder rate is concerned. and people refer to that as the good old days of gangs. what we have today are smaller gangs, they're fractions that break off from these larger groups. and as a result, what happens is there's more gangs to be in conflict with each other. so if you have 100 gangs and they splinter into 200 gangs, you just increased the number of conflicts that you have at any given time. so that's causing a lot of the violence, as you rightfully point out, some of the rapper stuff is influencing. but at the heart of it, that's gang violence and it's being facilitated through the rapping and it's also being facilitated through the social media. >> superintendent mccarthy, i want to come to chicago and i want to go and ride around with you. can we do that? >> i'd love to have you, yeah, because i do it frequently. as a matter of fact, i'm all set up for new year's eve. i'm going to be out on the west side with our cops.

like i said, these folks are doing a great job. and while we're enjoying the lowest crime rate in the city that we've had in 30-plus years, the fact is, we're making progress on the gun violence on the west and the south side. and it's really because of the efforts of those men and women who i can't say enough about. and i'd love to have you out there with me watching what they do. >> police superintendent garry mccarthy of chicago, thank you, sir. >> thank you, don. next on cnn -- president obama could tap this republican to lead the defense department. but not everyone wants to see a secretary hagel. why some of the loudest voices are coming from his own party. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. [ buzzing ] bye dad. drive safe. k. love you.

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up to speed on the day's headlines right now. can you imagine dashcam video as a russian plane exploded and flaming parts landed on a highway near moscow? four of the eight crew members on board were killed. amazingly no one on the highway was hurt. there were no other passengers on the plane, similar in size to a 757. the plane broke into three pieces as it overshot the runway. the airliner was returning from the czech republic. lawmakers racing to find a way to avoid the fiscal cliff. it is unclear if any can get enough votes to pass conference. -- congress. president obama says he's optimistic a compromise can be found. across india today, a nationwide protest took a new heartbreaking direction. people across the country were already out in angry droves calling for justice in the wake of a brutal gang rape.

then word today began to spread that the victim died in the hospital. a 23-year-old woman. six men were already held on rape charges. now they're charged with murder. chuck hagel's name has been floated as president obama's potential choice for the next defense secretary. but some don't want to see the former republican senator and vietnam war vet get the position. some from his own party. this ad is in "the new york times" right here. and it says, hagel is wrong on gay rights, wrong on iran, wrong on israel. and the ad was placed by the law of cabin republicans, a group that represents gay republicans. clarke cooper is executive director. thanks for joining me, clarke. here's that ad. this ad speaks volumes. wouldn't your party be happy to have a fellow republican, hagel, in the obama administration? >> not necessarily. so, don, you mentioned the three things that are concerned to log cabin republicans.

bad on gay rights. this is a guy who's going to be in charge of ensuring open implementation takes place. he's has a negative record on that. not just talking about a former appointee. when it comes to iran, very weak. left of president obama when it comes to economic sanctions or imposing sanctions on tehran to prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons. and then finally our bilateral relationship with israel, not strong on that. so regardless of where you lie, pick your poison, it's a perfect storm for why he should not be sec-def. to use an army colloquialism, he's a no-go. >> is this a turning point for the republican party? we will get to that. >> have you been getting pushback from your party about the ad? >> no. the party is a broad spectrum. there are folks that we work with on the nonproliferation

issue regarding iran. we were longtime supporters of legislation that was advocated by leadership in our party. congresswoman slatton was a big proponent of sanctions, also as far as our stance with our ally relationship, our bilateral, state-to-state relationship with israel, those are things that are corollary. pick a brother/sister group, republicans abroad. there's no surprise. there's been no pushback within the party on this. >> clarke, i have a bunch of questions for you. chuck hagel recently apologized for remarks he made in 1998 questioning whether in his words an openly aggressively gay nominee could be an effective u.s. ambassador. do you question the sincerity of that apology? >> of course we do. we just happen to be one of the organizations that's questioning that sincerity publicly.

i actually was at an event earlier this week where there were a number of civilian and uniform personnel there who were saying for different reasons why they didn't want him to be sec-def. but because they're active duty, can't say anything. one of the things being discussed, regardless of orientation was how sincere is this apology? for heaven's sakes, you may be a cabinet secretary. of course you're going to sit before the senate arms services committee and put your hand up and say, i'm really sorry about what i said 15-plus years ago about a particular nominee. i really mean it, trust me. so, yeah, the sincerity question, absolutely. >> this is a question i want to ask. this past week, congressman charles bassett supported repealing the defense of marriage act. third gop house member to do that some see a shift in the republican party of acceptance of the lgbt community? have you seen that trend and what was the turning point?

>> elections have consequences. i'm going to quote a paraphrase, former chairman of the rnc, haley barbour said, purity is the enemy of victory. and what he was getting at is something we have been saying for quite a while. let's win on the corollaries that we agree upon. we agree upon economic freedom, we agree upon strong national security. we agree upon the core conservative tenets of individual liberty and individual responsibility. let's not isolate or separate fellow americans because of something like their sexual orientation. >> let me ask you this, then -- >> yeah. >> why not do the right thing? when does winning an election supersede doing the right thing? why didn't doing the right thing have more importance than winning elections? >> it's principle and pragmatism. it's a combination of the two. let's start with principle. the first three republicans on

the r.m.a., the respect for marriage act. the chairman was the first, the three members gave their word to log cabin republicans to be co-sponsors. long story short is that it's okay, the water's fine, come on in. stand on your principle because i know there's a number of house and senate members that should be on this bill that are not on this bill yet. >> you're stepping down. i saw it cross the wires today. >> yep. good time, good tour. and i'm proud of the service working with our staff and our chapter leaders throughout the country and our allies and liberty. >> you're done is what you're saying? >> yeah. >> you've had enough. >> no, there's more to do within the gop. >> like having a family and kids and all that. isn't that funny, gay men have to worry about that now. >> you sound like my mom, don. what is my mom at thanksgiving. >> i'm so over it. used to be cool to be gay.

didn't have to worry about any of that stuff. now there's baby strollers everywhere. >> there you go. >> thank you. good luck to you. talk to you soon. good news for a change. shortly after their mother came on the air with us, these two missing boys, her sons, were found. they were safe. their father, the man police say abducted them, has been taken into custody. this incredible story is next. and would always be there with the biggest welcome home. for a love this strong, dawn only feeds him iams. compared to other leading brands, it has 50% more animal protein. ...to help keep rocky's body as strong as a love that never fades... if he ever lets her leave again. iams. keep love strong. i'm going to dream about that steak. i'm going to dream about that tiramisu. what a night, huh?

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this story makes me really happy, really happy. for six days, theresa nash had no idea where her two sons were, ben and henry cleary on a trip with their father in tennessee. they were supposed to return december 24th. but they never came back. earlier tonight, their mother made a desperate plea on our show. >> children, please call mommy. you know my phone number. i've taught you how to do it. if daddy doesn't have a phone, ask anybody you see, everybody you see has a phone. you can ask anybody. remember my number and call mommy's number. you can ask people at stores. you can ask people at the gas station. you can ask people anywhere you see. you need to call mommy. they will help you. anybody will help you. call mommy. >> just minutes after that interview tonight, the boys called their mother. told her they were safe and that they were in austin, texas. police there tell cnn that someone at a hotel recognized the boys from the amber alert on our program.

and contacted police. here's austin police just moments ago. >> the law enforcement community nationwide, we take these amber alerts seriously when it deals with kids, with children. this is one of those cases that it was activated and it worked. we're thankful for that. the other thing, component to this, we had a citizen that paid attention to this, actually saw it on cnn news, recognized the kids on there, recognized the kids here at the location. and in turn, called 911 and that is what prompted our response out here. >> i spoke to theresa just a short time ago as she was about to board a plane to texas. she tells me she's ecstatic, she's in shock, she calls it amazing and credits so much of this to the media. attorney holly hughes is joining me by phone. holly, you helped make this happen. >> well, don, you know what, i am not even in this picture.

i am so thrilled that this mamma is getting her babies back. and let's remember that today is little henry's eighth birthday. so you know what, don? happy birthday, henry, and happy birthday, theresa. i am so thrilled that we were able to give her a platform. and someone paid attention, don. this is such a great story for all of our viewers. just look, open your eyes, pay attention. and now we have this wonderful homecoming and such a great outcome. >> we got the police from our affiliate kvue where we got that from. holly, you were instrumental in guiding us through this story as a defense attorney. you said you don't want to -- tell us, you said you don't want to use certain language. you don't want to make the dad feel threatened or trapped. >> you need to look at the facts

and circumstances of every case. and every case is individual. and what we did not want was another tragedy like we saw in the powell case. and it was clear for me looking at these events and looking at the reports, this was a father who loves his children. and i sat down with theresa and i spoke with her. i sat down with her in the studio and said, tell me about the boys. daniel is a good father so you don't want to paint him as a crazy man, he's not wanting to harm his children. this was a father who felt desperate and did something that is illegal. i'm not encouraging anybody to overstep their bounds. what he did was illegal. and there will be consequences. but as a defense attorney, i was a prosecutor. now i'm a defense attorney. i look at both sides. and what i saw here was a father who didn't need to be painted as a crazy madman running around with a gun. we don't want to put a target on his back because that endangers the children. and in speaking with theresa, the little boys' mom, she told

me, she said, i spoke with daniel's mother, her ex-husband's mother. and they are as worried about him as their son as i am about my son. so she was able to tell him that. she was able to say, daniel, your mother is as worried about you as i am about our boys, our little boys. and to be able to make it a safe opportunity for him to do the right thing, don, bring the boys home. >> holly, i want to say that i spoke to her -- as she was boarding that plane. she said, it was great. she didn't believe it when she got the phone call. she said, we're planning -- i'm ecstatic, i'm in shock. we're planning henry's birthday. henry says he is kicking ben's butt on the ipad. that makes me happy. she said, i told them i got them an xbox for christmas. and they were all full of joy. police say they told them that everyone in the country was looking for you. she said, it's amazing. i have lost hope. i credit so much of this to the media. i'm eternally grateful.

and she says, i'm asking people to stay away from our home for a couple of days. we need to normalize our lives. >> absolutely. >> i just want to say this one thing that she said. she said that daddy had been telling them that mommy was in the hospital and that the phone -- it was bad reception and that's why he couldn't get mommy on the phone. >> right. right. >> so there you go. >> yeah. but i told her we were going to have a christmas miracle and we got one. >> thank you, holly. we're so happy for her. our thanks to holly hughes. now it is a great holiday season for them. new research points to a strong link between environmental changes and how the human brain, our minds, evolve. the big events from 2012 that may have affected how we think. that is next. ♪

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new research points to how much tragedy and trauma can affect the way the human mind evolves. earlier i asked human behavioral expert wendy walsh to explain. >> the big, sweeping changes that happen in our culture will force change in individuals or groups. we don't know if that change is going to be -- which direction the change is going to be, good, bad or neutral. so for instance, a giant

hurricane, like hurricane sandy, is this going to make people take a harder look at climate change or is it just going to make them by more homeowner's insurance. or a tragedy like sandy hook, is it going to make people take up more arms or fewer? there are big things that happened in the last year that i think have the potential to cause a lot of change in people. >> so then let's talk about that. loft big stories this past year, which do you think have the greatest potential to cause a major change in our thinking -- would newtown be one of them? >> newtown would certainly be one of them. i think we're going to -- many people are calling this rock bottom. it's making us really take a look at if our laws really are preserving our freedoms or taking away our freedoms, our freedom to be safe on the streets. and so that's the way people are starting to challenge the ideology. but look at penn state and the tragedy and the conviction of jerry sandusky. i think already people are understanding how sexual abuse

in children can be very, very damaging and they're taking greater lengths to protect children. also, all the various uprisings in the middle east from egypt to the tragedy still going on in syria, i think we're at a new place in the middle east where we have a younger generation that's using a new tool in the environment, technology -- during egypt's uprising, for instance, i was getting tweets and facebook posts from people. so i can imagine you being a cnn employee, trying to get to the american media to spread the word. so i think that the path we're on now, while it's still bloody and tragic might be a better path towards eventual peace in the middle east. i am not predicting it here for 2013, i think that's a big story. the last one i think is the gay marriage story. i think we're finally understanding you can't legislate love. but you can support love when it's there. i think people are growing and progressing. and i think ultimately that's a big story for this year as far as evolution is concerned. >> thank you, wendy. next on cnn -- 2012 is almost history.

but what's the takeaway? comedian dean obeidallah schools us with his top ten lessons of 2012.

the end is nigh. nigh? we're about to leave 2012 behind. but before we do, our friend, i don't know about that, comedian, not sure about that either, dean obeidallah, that is his name, brings us the 12 lessons of 2012. so, we're going to pick out a couple here. i'm in a really good mood

tonight because those kids -- i'm so happy about those kids. >> you found children. who does that? you're not just an anchor. you're a superhero. you're a cory booker of this world. he went into a house that's on fire. you're the equivalent of that. don lemon finds children. >> that's pretty awesome. we're having a little fun and it's good because the kids are found. but it's the power of the medium. >> absolutely. >> it's respectable to have that power. it's amazing. >> and it's a responsibility. >> let's talk about the stories. the lesson, america is best democracy money can buy. >> this presidential election, 2012 broke a record. we spent over $2 billion. obama, romney, super pacs, dnc, rnc. $2 billion. to put it in perspective, that is literally more than the annual gdp of almost 30 countries in the world.

we spent that on one election cycle. people in belize and liberia are shocked by this. $2 billion. how many individual people are turned off from politics by those kind of numbers. >> some people talk to chairs. >> some people -- clint eastwood, republican convention, made it okay to talk to your furniture. i've spoken to my couch, my end table on occasion. i clearly need friends besides coming on televig at 11:00 on saturday. i think we made it cool to have fun with your ferns and plants and furniture around the house. >> women love to read porn. >> yes, they do. they love to read porn, talking about "fifty shades of grey." sold over 40 million books. mostly women over 30 who like to read these sexually provocative books. men are waiting for the movie. we are more traditional. the way we like our porn,

we like a visual. we men, internal. they read it and can picture things. i can't picture anything unless i can see it in front of me. what about you, don? nothing. nothing to say? you leave me out here talking about porn, like i'm the weirdo. >> i have no idea what you're talking about. i have to look up what that word means. i heard it has something to do with -- >> they call "fifty shades of grey" mommy porn. talking about that kind. not the weird stuff. >> fiscal cliff, you were talking about it in an article. as a comedian in the clubs, which you just came from tonight in new york, are people freaked out? they go, whatever, this is crazy? >> people are so freaked out. they don't know what the fiscal cliff is. nobody is paying attention but us in the media. political people. i'm not kidding you. this is the same old b.s. they've seen year in and year out. and they ignore congress or hate congress. that's why they have a 9% approval rating. we re-elected them. we're like the person in a bad relationship with low self-esteem. we have to shake ourselves out of this. >> we live in a vacuum.

it's like an echo chamber. sometimes i leave here and go for drinks with friends and go, did you hear -- and they're like, what? what are you talking about? >> believe me. i bring it up in the clubs. one person knew what the fiscal cliff was. they are not paying attention. it means nothing to their lives. >> thank you. happy new year. >> happy new year, don. >> this week's moment next. this is stacy from springfield. oh whoa. hello? yes. i didn't realize i'd be talking to an actual person. you don't need to press "0," i'm here. reach a person, not a prompt whenever you call chase sapphire. tyeah, its the galaxy note ii.re great. you can do two things at the same time. you can watch videos and text. or you could watch the earnings report and take notes, like we're supposed to. so... can i get it?

yeah. okay either of you put together the earnings report yet? yes, me totally. what? why don't you tackle the next quarter. you eat yet? polynesian? pu pu platter? yup! keep up the good work. i will keep up the good work. do more with the new samsung galaxy note ii. ♪ ooh baby, can i do for you today? ♪ [ female announcer ] need help keeping your digestive balance?

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